We'll have to make music at home for now...
It's become clear that the world is facing an unprecedented challenge. Like you, my main concern is that we keep our community and families safe and healthy. My second concern is that of continuing to pay our teachers and keeping this small business afloat during these uncertain times.
With those two thoughts at the front of my mind, I have decided to cancel group classes beginning Monday, March 16 through March 29. This means that we will hold class this weekend and most classes will only miss one week of the Winter session. Spring session classes are scheduled to start the week of April 13. With the beginning of the Spring session being a month away, there is still plenty of time to see how things develop.
In the meantime though, it's worth thinking about the financial commitment that we've all made to hold these winter classes. I want to make sure that our teachers are taken care of during these uncertain times when the rest of their work is drying up by paying them for the classes that we've committed to holding. As you've probably heard, gig economy workers are being hurt the hardest by the current outbreak.
With that said, I hope that you can show your support for your child's music teacher and local music school by enrolling in Spring Session. In this uncertain time, we need to know that our community is planning to return to make music with us when this all passes. For our part, we plan to offer unlimited make-up classes for everyone enrolled in Spring Session and won't begin offering classes until it's safe to do so.
We want to keep the music going during this hiatus, so we will distribute the new Maracas Song Collection music and songbook this weekend to anyone who is registered for Music Together class this Spring Session. Simply stop by the main studio on Ravenswood Ave this Saturday or Sunday morning from 9 am to noon to pick them up! We'll even try to run them to the door, so you don't have to get your kids out of the car if you call us at 773-929-4666.
We're also exploring options for online classes that we could offer while we're all cooped up at home, so stay tuned! I welcome your feedback and thank you for supporting your local music school.
Musically,
Camille McClain
Executive Director
P.S. Private lessons are not impacted by the cancellation of group classes. Please reach out to your teacher directly, if you need to discuss changes to your lessons.